On this episode of Leading Beyond Limits: Cultivating Creativity, my guest is Consuelo Ruybal.

Consuelo has been a Product Design leader since 2001 and is known for supporting and nurturing each designer in successfully growing their career while positively impacting the company's business and clients. Consuelo builds teams from the ground up for agencies and start-ups, recruiting, hiring, and creating the operational environment for those teams through a mix of business strategy, product innovation, product design, design operations, and a focus on customer needs with a solid research and discovery practice. Consuelo is deeply inspired to create user experiences that deliver value to customers and generate results for clients and particularly loves working on large, complicated projects with diverse team members.

1:51 Learn about the different ways that creativity shows up in our lives.

3:15 Hear how Consuelo builds diverse design teams and the importance of different ideas to spark innovation for business success.

5:03 Hear about removing your ego in order to approach decision-making in design (and more broadly) when faced with the tension between artistic vision and practicality.

7:01 Hear about the fear that shows up when we begin in a new medium or domain and how to embrace the discomfort of “beginner mind” to foster empathy.

10:52 Hear about belonging and how to honor and embrace your own style of leadership, even through challenges like layoffs or harassment at work, rather than internalizing those systemic factors.

16:40 Hear about how to navigate and lead a team through transitions in the constantly evolving technologies, trends, and consumer needs by consistently evaluating the trifecta of process, tooling, and situations.

19:29 Hear about helping your teams grow and work together through feedback and how to be courageous and curious in providing it.

23:23 Hear about how side projects and pro bono work can keep your creative energy flowing.

Where can you find more?

-Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify or using your favorite podcast app.

-You can also support the podcast with ratings, kind words, and by sharing with others.

-Find Shawn on Substack, LinkedIn, Instagram and explore their coaching here.

-Find Consuelo at www.consuelo.com, Substack, and on LinkedIn.

-Daring Greatly By Brene Brown